Explore the wonders of the Earth. In this site, you will find some information about hiking trails, some of the natural wonders in the places we explored, some itineraries of our travels, some road trip information, some health and fitness tips to enjoy the outdoors, and more of the simple joys from our natural world. Life, like hiking, has lots of ups and down, rugged and steep terrains, switchbacks, and beautiful scenic turns.- Betchai

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Staying On the Safe Side

Guest post by MJ

photo of Sandstone Falls, West Virginia courtesy of MJ

Life is a series of surprises, someone once said. Many good. But an equal number heartbreaking as well. One such "surprise" happened to a friend a couple weeks ago while driving merrily along a road she had traversed so many times before in uptown Beckley, West Virginia. One minute, she was whistling the chorus of Lady Gaga's "Papparazi," the next moment, she said a sudden impact to her car from behind threw her forward, causing her head to bang against the steering wheel. It could be that the driver following her had lost control of his vehicle. He may have been changing radio stations, could have looked away from the road for a few split seconds, and failed to slow down as the vehicle in front of him - my friend's - slowed down while passing through a school zone. Or he could have been busy talking on his cell phone. My friend will never know though what exactly caused that car to crash into hers because the driver at fault swerved around her car seconds after the crash, stepped on the gas, and disappeared down the road in a cloud of dust. As a result of the accident, my friend missed a few days of work due to whiplash injuries and a painful bump on her head. The rear bumper of her car was also smashed in pretty bad. To date, she is still trying to sort things out with her car insurance company. It has not been very helpful. "And to think I pay such a high monthly premium!," my friend told me on the phone yesterday. "You would think my insurance company would do more for me." She said she is planning to switch insurance companies as soon as this case is resolved and search for cheap auto insurance... one that will be better at handling accidents in case they happen again. My friend agrees that life is indeed a series of surprises. Having auto insurance is one way of arming ourselves against all the reckless drivers out there.

thank you for all your comments, guys! this happened several weeks ago, and my friend has since recovered from her injuries. the police have not found the hit-and-run driver yet. my friend believes though that God will "pay" that person back eventually. God sees all things and does not sleep when injustice is done. i'm sure we all believe that. in the meantime, it sure is wise to have good, cheap car insurance in case these accidents happen.

same with Ruthi MJ, I too had been in a car accident, and thankfully, the auto insurance helped a lot. thanks so much for this wake up post MJ, on reminding us to be more careful on choosing our auto insurance that we won't end up hanging when something happens.

How awful for your friend, MJ! Glad to know your friend has already recovered. Last year, my carpool buddy and I have been a victim of a hit-and-run too. We're grateful the damage was only to our car. The insurance shouldered repair of her car and chiropractic for us. It is always good to have a dependable car insurance.